Disposable bucket liner

ABSTRACT

The disclosure provides apparatus and methods of use pertaining to disposable bucket liners for storing solid or liquid content. One embodiment provides a flexible bag configured to conform to an interior of a common painting bucket and overlap an open top end of the bucket so as to provide stability for the bag and protection for the bucket. The bag includes a reusable closing member that allows the bag to be removed from the bucket and stored to facilitate repeated use before disposal. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

REFERENCE TO PENDING PRIOR PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of pending prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/458,908, filed on Aug. 13, 2014 by Brannon K. Aki for “DISPOSABLE BUCKET LINER,” which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119 (e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/866,442, filed Aug. 15, 2013 by Brannon K. Aki for “DISPOSABLE BUCKET LINER,” both of which patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Generally, both professional and do-it-yourself painters must spend substantial time cleaning their various tools and containers at the close of a painting session or when switching between paint colors. Such tools and containers may include brushes, rollers, pans, sponges, buckets, and more.

Buckets are particularly difficult to clean in a manner that leaves the bucket free of dried, clumped, and/or crusted paint at the start of the next painting session. Primarily, painting buckets are generally deep five-gallon containers with a great deal of surface area to be cleaned. These size and depth complications are exacerbated when excess paint, which has been wiped from brushes, rollers, and the like, dries into the upper ridges or edges of the bucket. As a result, a painter must either expend valuable time and effort cleaning the internal surfaces and the external ridges of the bucket to render the bucket reusable or dispose of the bucket altogether. For professional painters charging between $35.00 and $50.00 per hour, a half-hour spent cleaning equipment at the end of the day and/or between each color change amounts to a sizeable production loss.

Beyond the time required to clean painting buckets when a painter is stopping for the day, breaking for a period of time, or changing paint colors to continue a job, bucket cleaning requires a great deal of water and an appropriate dump site. Many commercial job sites are not equipped with running water due to staged construction and/or other practical job-site complications. Other job sites don't have appropriate drainage facilities that can accommodate gallons and gallons of paint-tainted water.

Because cleaning a painting bucket between each paint session disposes of the paint coating the bottom, sides, and ridges of the bucket, each cleaning sacrifices a nominal amount of paint. Over time, this amount of washed-away paint adds up to a significant amount of waste.

Disposable bucket liners may provide an alternative to cleaning a paint-coated bucket in preparation for reuse. Using a disposable liner, a painter may complete a job and simply dispose of the liner before replacing it with a new one and continuing on with a new paint color or restarting the project after a break or delay in work. That said, current disposable liners, plastic bags, and/or other disposable receptacles exhibit numerous deficiencies. Generally, liners that are sized and configured to fit the inside of a painting bucket have a height that stops short of the height of the bucket so as not to interfere with the bucket's lid. As a result, the liners don't overlap or fold over the bucket rim, which allows the liners to shift position when paint is poured inside and fails to protect the top rim and the outer ridges encircling the top of the bucket. In addition, existing liners are designed for one-time use and do not feature reusable closure mechanisms that allow for the removal, storage, and later reuse of the paint-filled liners. As a result, they don't allow a painter to quickly and easily store unused paint remaining in the liner during a work stoppage, either for a break, and evening, or while the painter switches between paint colors.

Due to these drawbacks, there is a need for an affordable, disposable mechanism for keeping a paint bucket clean over the course of multiple uses and for allowing paint and painting tools to be stored for easy reuse between painting sessions and color changes.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key aspects or essential aspects of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, this Summary is not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

On embodiment provides a disposable liner for a five-gallon bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end. The liner may include a flexible bag having a bottom seam, a top periphery, and a reusable closure member that moves between open and closed positions. When the bag is placed within the bucket and the reusable closure member is placed in the open position, the bottom seam connects with the bottom surface of the bucket and the top periphery folds over the open top end of the bucket such that the reusable closure member abuts the outer sidewall of the bucket.

Another embodiment provides a bucket-and-liner system including a bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end. The system further includes a disposable bag configured to line the bottom surface and the inner sidewall of the bucket. The disposable bag may have flexible walls disposed between a bottom seam and a top periphery and a reusable closure member configured to move between open and closed positions. The flexible walls may be configured to extend across the bottom surface, up the inner sidewall, and over the open top end of the bucket such that the reusable closure member abuts the outer sidewall when the disposable liner is placed within the bucket and the reusable closure member is in the open position.

Yet another embodiment provides a method of applying paint contained within a painting bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end. The method begins with providing a liner system including a disposable bag having flexible walls disposed between a bottom seam and a top periphery and a reusable closure member configured to move between open and closed positions. The method continues with moving the reusable closure member to the open position and placing the disposable bag within the bucket such that the bottom seam connects with the bottom surface of the bucket and the top periphery folds over the open top end of the bucket such that the reusable closure member abuts the outer sidewall of the bucket. Next, the method includes filling the disposable bag with a desired amount of paint, applying the paint to a surface, and, when finished with application of that particular color, moving the reusable closure member to the closed position. Once the disposable bag is closed, the method continues with removing the disposable bag from the bucket for storage outside the bucket. After storage for a desired amount of time, either for a work stoppage or while the user paints in a different color, the method continues with replacing the disposable bag back within the bucket and moving the reusable closure member to the open position.

An additional embodiment provides a method of storing liquid or solid matter contained within a bucket-and-liner system including (a) a five-gallon bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end, and (b) a re-sealable liner sized to fit the bottom surface and inner sidewall of the bucket and extend beyond the open top end of the bucket. The liner may include a reusable closure member configured to move between open and closed positions. The method begins with moving the reusable closure member from the open position to the closed position before removing the re-sealable liner from said bucket.

Other embodiments are also disclosed.

Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the technology will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned from practice of the technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention, including the preferred embodiment, are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. Illustrative embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 provides a front perspective view of one embodiment of a disposable bucket liner;

FIG. 2 provides a front perspective view of a bucket-and-liner system featuring the disposable bucket liner of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 provides a section view of the bucket-and-liner system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 provides another section view of the bucket-and-liner system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 provides a front perspective view of another embodiment of a disposable bucket liner held upright by a stability hanger;

FIG. 6 provides a front plan view of another embodiment of a disposable bucket liner;

FIG. 7 provides a flow chart depicting an exemplary method of applying paint to a desired surface; and

FIG. 8 provides a flow chart depicting an exemplary method of storing embodiments of the disposable liners of FIGS. 1-6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments are described more fully below in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the system and method. However, embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

Various embodiments of the systems and methods described herein relate to the application and storage of paint in a manner that saves time and money and reduces the resources (e.g., water, drainage, excess paint, etc.) traditionally required to complete these tasks.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of one embodiment of a disposable liner 10 _(a). In this embodiment, liner 10 _(a) may be an impermeable, disposable bag having two flexible walls 12 that meet at a bottom seam 14 and identical side seams 16. These bottom and side seams 14, 16 may open to form a top periphery 18. Flexible walls 12 may be formed of any appropriate plastic such as, for example, polyethylene and may have any appropriate thickness. In one embodiment, flexible walls 12 have a thickness between 2 and 4 mil.

To render liner 10 _(a) re-sealable, and thus useful for long and/or short-term storage of liquid and/or solid content, a reusable closure member 20 may traverse top periphery 18 at any appropriate offset, o, from top periphery 18. In this embodiment, reusable closure member 20 includes a zip-type lock formed of a grooved track 22 that interlocks via a press-fit with a ridged track 24. Reusable closure member 20 is configured to move repeatedly through open and closed positions via a press fit, thereby allowing a user to access and then store liquid or solid content 34 as many times as necessary until the user has finished with content 34 and is ready to dispose of liner 10 _(a).

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate perspective and section views of one embodiment of a bucket-and-liner system 11. Specifically, FIGS. 2-3 show liner 10 _(a) in an open position and situated within a five-gallon bucket 26, which is a common tool present on construction, remodeling, and other job sites where liner 10 _(a) might prove useful. These drawing views illustrate the sizing of liner 10 _(a) in relation to bucket 26. Specifically, Liner 10 _(a) may be sized such that when placed within bucket 26, bottom seam 14 may contact a bottom surface 28 and an inner sidewall 29 of bucket 26 (FIG. 3). At the same time, top periphery 18 of liner 10 _(a) may overlap or fold over an open top end 30 of bucket 26 in a manner that allows reusable closure member 20 to abut an outer sidewall 32 of bucket 26. This overlap allows bucket 26 to perform as a scaffolding of sorts for liner 10 _(a). That is, when content 34 is added to liner 10 _(a), the overlap prevents liner 10 _(a) from shifting as liner 10 _(a) expands to accommodate content 34 and conform to the inside of bucket 26. This overlap remains as content 34 is added, preventing content 34 from contaminating or interfering with either closure member 20 or any ridges 36 that are present on outer sidewall 32 of bucket 26.

To accommodate a traditional five-gallon painting bucket, each flexible wall 12 of liner 10 _(a) may be 21.5 inches long. However, liner 10 _(a) may be any appropriate size, shape, length, width, and/or configuration to allow for sufficient overlap when bottom seam 14 of liner 10 _(a) contacts bottom surface 28 of bucket 26 and liner 10 _(a) expands to conform to inner sidewall 29 of bucket 26. For instance, while FIGS. 1-4 show liner 10 _(a) as a flat bag with three distinct seams, it should be understood that liner 10 _(a) may take a cylindrical, square, oval, or any other appropriate shape.

With liner 10 _(a) in place within bucket 26, content 34, such as, for example, paint may be added to liner 10 _(a) and bucket 26 without fear of dripping or smearing excess paint onto inner sidewall 29 or open top end 30 of bucket 26. Further, the overlap protects ridges 36 of outer sidewall 32 when a painter leverages open top end 30 to wipe excess paint from brushes, rollers, sponges, and the like. As a result, when liner 10 _(a) is later removed, bucket 26 remains clean and ready for another liner, and thus another paint project or color, or for any appropriate secondary use such as carrying water or storing other equipment (e.g., paint trays, brushes, sponges, etc.).

FIG. 4 illustrates a section view of bucket-and-liner system 11, where liner 10 _(a) is situated within bucket 26 in a closed position. From this closed position, liner 10 _(a) may be lifted from bucket 26 for storage. For instance, a professional painter could remove liner 10 _(a) and replace it with another liner before moving to another paint color. Later the painter could return to the original color contained within liner 10 _(a), all by quickly switching liners with no need to spend valuable time cleaning bucket 26 between each color change. Alternatively, the painter might remove liner 10 _(a) from bucket 26 to store paint during a break or overnight. In this situation, the painter could store other tools such as brushes and a paint tray within the clean bucket 26.

When the liner is removed from bucket 26, it may be beneficial to store it in an upright position so as to keep content 34 away from reusable closing member 20. FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a disposable liner 10 _(b) that includes a stability aperture 38 situated between reusable closure member 20 and top periphery 18 of liner 10 _(b). In this embodiment, stability aperture 38 is adapted to engage with a stability hanger 40. One embodiment of stability hanger 40 may include a first hook 42 and a second hook 44. As shown in FIG. 5, first hook 42 may be curved in a manner adapted to engage with stability aperture 38, while second hook 44 may be curved in a manner adapted to engage with a fixed external surface 46, such as a doorknob, shelf edge, or the like. While FIG. 5 shows stability hanger 40 specifically adapted for a doorknob, stability hanger 40 may take any appropriate size, shape, and/or configuration necessary to support liner 10 _(b) in an upright position. Further, stability hanger 40 may be formed of any appropriate material such as, for example, metal or plastic. In attrition, while FIG. 5 shows one stability aperture 38, embodiments of liner 10 _(b) may include any number of stability apertures 38 necessary to achieve a stable upright resting position.

At the close of a project, a user may throw away the disposable liner. In the case of liquid content 34, the user may want to fully empty the liner before disposal. FIG. 6 illustrates a front plan view of one embodiment of a liner 10 _(c) Liner 10 _(c) may include a tear-away portion 48 that separates from flexible sheets 12 via a perforated line 50. Once the tear-away portion has been removed, the user may squeeze liner 10 _(c) to efficiently remove all remaining liquid from the bag before disposal. For example, a user may remove tear-away portion 48 before squeezing all remaining paint within liner 10 _(c) back into its original can, thereby minimizing waste.

Embodiments of liner 10 _(a-c) allow users to integrate readily available five-gallon buckets into projects that would otherwise require a great deal of clean-up and/or several different buckets to achieve. For instance, rather than using one bucket and cleaning it between each color required of a multi-color paint job, or alternately, employing several painting buckets and cleaning each one at the end of the day or at the end of a work session, a painter may employ one bucket and multiple liners 10 _(a-c). By alternating liners for each color and storing the liners during work stoppages, as discussed above, the painter may maximize his or her painting time and avoid the need for abundant rinse water, drainage outlets, and/or multiple buckets to be juggled and cleaned.

Notably, while liners 10 _(a-c) have primarily been discussed with reference to storing paint and its usefulness in the personal and professional painting environment, liners 10 _(a-c) and bucket-and-liner system 11, discussed above, may be used with any appropriate solid or liquid content 34. For instance, embodiments of liners 10 _(a-c) may be used to store pet waste or soiled baby diapers between trash-removal days.

FIG. 7 provides a flow chart depicting an exemplary method 100 for applying paint. Method 100 initiates with the provision of one of liners 10 _(a-c) of the type discussed above (102) and continues when a user moves reusable closure member 20 of liner 10 _(a-c) to an open position (104). Next, the user may place liner 10 _(a-c) within bucket 26 (106) such that bottom seam 14 and top periphery 18 of liner 10 _(a-c) connects with bottom surface 28 and folds over open top end 30 of bucket 26, respectively. Once liner 10 _(a-c) is in place, the user may fill liner 10 _(a-c) (108) with paint and proceed to apply (110) the paint to any surface(s) as desired. When the user is finished with the current paint color, either because he or she is stopping work or wishes to switch colors, the user may unfold top periphery 18 of liner 10 _(a-c) and move reusable closure member 20 to the closed position (112) before removing liner 10 _(a-c) (114) from bucket 26 for storage outside the bucket according to method 200, discussed below in reference to FIG. 8. If the user is switching to a fresh color, the user may then reinitiate method 100 using a new liner 10 _(a-c). Alternately, the user may place a previously stored liner 10 _(a-c) (116) in bucket 26 to effectively toggle between colors without breaking to clean bucket 26.

FIG. 8 provides a flow chart depicting an exemplary method 150 for storing liquid or solid content 34 contained within liner 10 _(b-c). Method 150 initiates when a user moves reusable closure member 20 of liner 10 _(b-c) within bucket 26 from the open position to the closed position (152) and removes liner 10 _(b-c) from bucket 26 (154). Next, the user may engage first hook 42 of stability hanger 40 with stability aperture 38 of liner 10 _(b-c) (156) and engage second hook 44 with fixed external surface 46 (158) to support liner 10 _(b-c) in the upright position. Once liner 10 _(b-c) has been stored, the user may replace the stored liner with a new liner in bucket 26 or with a liner that had been previously used and stored until needed once more.

While method 150 is discussed in specific relation to liners 10 _(b-c), all liners 10 _(a-c) may be stored by simply removing the liners from bucket 26 and setting them aside. Stability aperture 38 and stability hanger 40 simply provide a mechanism for holding liners 10 _(b-c) upright in the event that a user desires to keep reusable closure member 20 free and clear of contents 34.

Although the above embodiments have been described in language that is specific to certain structures, elements, compositions, and methodological steps, it is to be understood that the technology defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific structures, elements, compositions and/or steps described. Rather, the specific aspects and steps are described as forms of implementing the claimed technology. Since many embodiments of the technology can be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of applying paint contained within a painting bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end, the method comprising: providing a liner system comprising a disposable bag having flexible walls disposed between a bottom seam and a top periphery, and a reusable closure member configured to move between open and closed positions; moving the reusable closure member to the open position; placing the disposable bag within the bucket such that the bottom seam connects with the bottom surface of the bucket and the top periphery folds over the open top end of the bucket such that the reusable closure member abuts the outer sidewall of the bucket; filling the disposable bag with a desired amount of paint; applying the paint to a surface; moving the reusable closure member to the closed position; removing the disposable bag from the bucket for storage outside the bucket; replacing the disposable bag back within the bucket; and moving the reusable closure member to the open position.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the disposable bag further comprises a stability aperture located between the top periphery and the reusable closure member when the reusable closure member is in the closed position, and wherein the liner system further comprises a stability hanger having a first hook configured to interlock with the stability aperture and a second hook configured to engage with a fixed external surface, the method further comprising: after the step of removing the disposable bag from the bucket, engaging the first hook of the stability hanger with the stability aperture; and engaging the second hook of the stability hanger with the fixed external surface such that the disposable bag is supported in an upright position.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the fixed external surface is a doorknob.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the disposable bag further comprises: two side seams; and a perforated tear-away portion for draining the paint from the disposable bag.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the perforated tear-away portion comprises a perforated seam extending from a first one of the side seams to the bottom seam, thereby forming a triangular tear-away portion that encompasses a limited portion of each of the first one of the side seams and the bottom seam.
 6. A method of storing paint contained within a bucket-and-liner system including (a) a five-gallon bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end, and (b) a re-sealable liner sized to fit the bottom surface and the inner sidewall of the bucket and extend beyond the open top end of the bucket, the re-sealable liner having a reusable closure member configured to move between open and closed positions, the method comprising: pouring an amount of paint into the re-sealable liner; moving the reusable closure member from the open position to the closed position; and removing the re-sealable liner from the bucket.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the moving the reusable closure member from the open position to the closed position comprises generating a sealed and removable module formed by the liner together with the amount of the paint contained within the re-sealable liner.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the removing the re-sealable liner from the bucket comprises removing the sealed and removable module from the bucket.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the bucket-and-liner system further comprises a stability hanger and the re-sealable liner further comprises a stability aperture, the method further comprising: engaging a first end of the stability hanger with the stability aperture; and engaging a second end of the stability hanger with a fixed external surface such that the re-sealable liner is supported in an upright position.
 10. A bucket-and-liner system, comprising: a bucket having a bottom surface, inner and outer sidewalls, and an open top end; and a flexible bag, comprising: a bottom seam; a top periphery; and an integrated reusable closure member configured to move between open and closed positions, wherein: the bottom seam is configured to rest on the bottom surface of the bucket and the top periphery is configured to fold over the top end of the bucket; when the flexible bag is filled with content, placed within the bucket, and the reusable closure member is placed in the open position, the bottom seam contacts the bottom surface of the bucket and the top periphery folds over the open top end of the bucket such that the reusable closure member abuts the outer sidewall of the bucket; and when the reusable closure member is placed in the closed position, the flexible bag together with the content form a sealed and removable module.
 11. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 10, wherein the content comprises paint.
 12. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 11, wherein the content further comprises one or more painting tools.
 13. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 10, wherein the flexible bag is formed from first and second sheets, each having top and bottom ends and first and second sides, wherein the first and the second sheets are permanently mated along the first and the second sides and the bottom ends, and wherein the reusable closure member is offset from the top ends.
 14. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 13, wherein the reusable closure member comprises a zip lock formed of interlocking grooved and ridged tracks.
 15. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 13, wherein the first sheet includes a first aperture between the top end of said first sheet and the reusable closure member and the second sheet includes a second aperture between the top end of the second sheet and the reusable closure member, and wherein the first and the second apertures align to form a stability aperture when the reusable closure member is in the closed position.
 16. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 15, wherein the stability aperture is sized to receive a stability hanger, the stability hanger configured to support the flexible bag in an upright position when the reusable closure member is in the closed position and the flexible bag is removed from the bucket.
 17. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 16, wherein: the stability hanger comprises a first hook and a second hook; the first hook of the stability hanger is configured to engage with the stability aperture; and the second hook of the stability hanger is configured to engage with a fixed external surface such that the flexible liner is supported in the upright position.
 18. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 17, wherein the fixed external surface comprises a doorknob.
 19. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 10, wherein the flexible bag further comprises: two side seams; and a perforated tear-away portion for draining the paint from the disposable bag.
 20. The bucket-and-liner system of claim 19, wherein the perforated tear-away portion comprises a perforated seam extending from a first one of the side seams to the bottom seam, thereby forming a triangular tear-away portion that encompasses a limited portion of each of the first one of the side seams and the bottom seam. 